By MARGARET FULLER
I have hiked more than 6,000 miles on Idaho trails. I continue to hike with my husband, Wayne, with friends and with our five children and seven grandchildren.
For many years, we have enjoyed hiking to views of the creamy, white peaks of the White Clouds. These white peaks are some of Idaho's world-class scenery that I have tried to share with others through my hiking guidebooks. Future generations of families deserve the same chance we have had to see the half-white face of Castle Peak and watch mountain goats drinking from an off-trail lake at twilight. Today, these experiences for our descendants can be preserved through a bill for a Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness.
For the very first time, the entire Idaho congressional delegation has come together to sponsor a wilderness bill for Idaho. That is truly something to celebrate. For 10 years, Congressman Mike Simpson has worked hard on a bill for the White Clouds and revised it many times. Everyone involved has compromised. This is the way Idahoans have brought about good stewardship of our wild land. In 1980, the bill to form the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness included compromise—jet boats, road corridors, airstrips and a special cobalt mining district. Other compromises added extra acres. Because of these compromises, an amazing wild area won permanent protection.
The bill for the Boulder-White Clouds, the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act, shows similar compromises that were achieved by a long series of negotiations. The bill that has now won the support of every member of our delegation is an Idaho grass-roots product. It will ensure that one of our state's beloved natural treasures will be preserved for our kids and grandkids to hike, camp, climb, fish, hunt and paddle. It will also help the economies of our local communities by attracting visitors who spend money. It will provide some land for needed public facilities in rural towns. These communities will now have space to build things like fire stations and health clinics. Large land transfers are not in the bill.
Although I much prefer the peace of a hike up Washington Peak or one to Quiet Lake, I appreciate that there are others in the state who like to experience the scenery from atop a dirt bike or get part way to a scenic view in an SUV. This bill takes those folks into account, keeping open some of their favorite riding spots and road corridors. Clearly, the Boulder-White Clouds are big enough for our diverse needs.
During the first Senate consideration of the 1964 Wilderness Act, Sen. Frank Church said, "The great purpose of the wilderness bill is to set aside a reasonable part of the vanishing wilderness, to make certain that generations of Americans yet unborn will know what it is to experience life on undeveloped, unoccupied land in the same form and character as the creator fashioned it."
That act, too, had the support of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who joined together to find a way to protect parts of our remaining wild land. CIEDRA carries on that tradition. This new version is a common-sense bill constructed over long years by Idahoans representing many varied interests. It deserves to become law.
Margaret Fuller, a resident of Weiser, Idaho, is the author of "Trails of the Sawtooth and White Cloud Mountains."
